Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. — In 27 seconds Malik Brown said all he needed to say. He was honest and blunt, forceful and direct: If Doug Marrone had never left, he would have undoubtedly signed with Syracuse.

"When I committed to Syracuse, I committed to the contract of Coach Marrone, Coach Morrison and Coach Anselmo — three guys that I’ve built a big relationship with," Brown said in front of an audience of roughly 75 people. "If you know anything about contracts, after you commit to a contract and the contract changes, that contract is now void. So that’s why today I will be decommitting from Syracuse and signing with the University of Tennessee."

Malik Brown SignsMalik Brown, one of Syracuse's most coveted recruits, decided on Wednesday that he'll play football at Tennessee. He had verbally committed to Syracuse before Doug Marrone left for the Buffalo Bills.

Brown, a three-star defensive end from Dwyer High School in Florida, was greeted with rousing cheers and applause from his family and friends as he selected the Volunteers over Syracuse and South Florida. Cameras flashed. Brown beamed.

With his announcement, Syracuse and head coach Scott Shafer lost arguably the best player in the 2013 recruiting class. Though he was only a three-star prospect according to recruiting websites, Brown gained an additional 30 pounds since his senior season ended. He know stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 250 pounds, making him a menacing outside linebacker/defensive end hybrid.

His father, Mark Brown, said the family used a point system to rank the three schools based on criteria that their son felt were most important. The final scores were as follows: Tennessee 242, Syracuse 202, South Florida 156.

But Brown was discouraged by the coaching change, both in principle and in manner. He understands Marrone's decision to move to the National Football League, calling it an opportunity no one could pass up. He was sad, though, to see "a coach I would have loved to play for" depart.

Brown said he called the Syracuse coaches in the days leading up to Marrone's departure from SU. He said every assistant coach that he talked to said they were all staying with the Orange. So when that turned out not to be the case, Brown was understandably confused.

"The answer from every coach was, ‘No. No way. We’re not leaving. We’re not leaving,’" Brown said. "I wake up on Sunday morning and find out they’re leaving, and I didn’t know if they honestly truly didn’t know, or I didn’t know if I was being lied to. And a college I’m going to commit to for the next four years, I don’t want to be in that situation with either feeling. It was a lot of mixed feelings with Syracuse after the coaching change."

The loss of Brown has to sting Shafer, who had devoted a great deal of time and resources to trying to keep the player who verbally committed to SU in December. He sent Clark Lea and Chuck Bullough, his linebackers coach and defensive coordinator, respectively, to visit Brown one last time on Thursday.

They brought with them a PowerPoint presentation, hoping to demonstrate that even despite the coaching change the core values of the program remained.

But it wasn't enough, as Brown admitted the visit to Tennessee was otherworldly.

"I took the visit to Tennessee I was just in awe the whole time," he said. "Facilities, academic tools that they have for the athletes and everything that can help me, my core values, my athletic ability and my academic ability, Tennessee had them the best."

His family held a round table discussion last night at their home in Riviera Beach, Fla. Brown, his parents and his brother, who was brought in on speakerphone from New Mexico, viewed and discussed the point system that Mark Brown had developed back in November.

The Post-Standard left the Brown household at roughly 8:30 p.m. last night. Gwen Brown, Malik's mother, said the decision had been basically wrapped up by 11 p.m.

Syracuse finished second, some 40 points behind Tennessee.

"I actually called Coach Shafer before I had the ceremony, and I let him know that I did a point system and said, ‘Sorry, but you didn’t come out on top,'" Brown said. "I told him, 'That’s why today I’m going to be signing with Tennessee.’"

Brown's recruitment was, essentially, a race. It was a battle to see which school could construct relationships the fastest, which coaches could step in and create the bonds he lost with the departures of Marrone, John Anselmo and Steve Morrison.

So after a whirlwind few weeks with home visits, official visits and dozens of phone calls Syracuse felt a bit short as Brown opted for a different shade of Orange.

As Brown posed for pictures with family and friends Wednesday, his two unused hats — Syracuse and South Florida — sat alone on the table. His mother walked over, scooped them and tucked them away.